


Another Chance (Another World)

by Lumeleo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M, Pietro Maximoff Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-22 20:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19992694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumeleo/pseuds/Lumeleo
Summary: Infinity War ends with the heroes triumphant. This is good news to many people.





	Another Chance (Another World)

**Author's Note:**

> I started this work after Infinity War, and was originally going to turn this into a more extensive fix-it. However, I hadn't gotten much farther by the time Endgame hit, and at that point I wrote [Endgame fix-it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18742645) so this was no more relevant. Finally I decided to post this as-is, because it might not have much of a plot but it's hopefully serviceable fluff anyway.

Wanda was not sure what was real and what was not.

Her head was swimming from too much magic and fear and exertion, a deep ache in her bones taking over what little capacity she had left for actual thoughts. She was vaguely aware of people rushing around her, could hear noise that was not making sense, and she wanted to throw up but there was nothing inside her anymore. She felt hollow, wrung out almost, and she wasn’t sure if she could snap out of it ever again.

Someone was calling her name.

It took Wanda a moment to connect the word to herself, but finally she looked up, glancing around for whoever was trying to catch her attention. There were several people around her, and she might have felt threatened but she knew these were not enemies. How she knew that, Wanda wasn’t sure, but she had to trust her instincts on this. She did not have the strength left for thought.

“Wanda?” A hand appeared in front of her, a familiar hand, and as she reached for it she felt the comforting warmth of Vision. He was no threat, not anymore, she could trust him to keep her safe but not captive. She still didn’t have the strength to stand, but instead of pulling her up Vision crouched down in front of her.

“You did it, Wanda.” Vision’s voice seemed to break through the haze in her mind, though she was still slow to catch the meaning of the words. “You and Doctor Strange. You saved us all.”

“We… did?” Wanda blinked slowly. “I don’t… remember…” All she could remember was pain, a burning pain as more power than she had ever felt ran through her body, very nearly tearing her apart.

“You did.” Vision leaned forward, brushing his lips against her forehead. That wasn’t right, Vision wasn’t even supposed to be here, he’d had a stone on his forehead and Thanos had taken that, but this certainly felt like him. “You were amazing. I know all too well what the power of even one of the stones can do, but you redirected the power of them all.”

Had Wanda been more aware of the situation, she might have asked for clarifications. However, before she could truly process everything, she heard someone calling for her again. The voice was familiar, but even more familiar was the way it tugged at her heart, echoing through her soul before it ever reached her ears.

Wanda staggered up to her feet, looking around in disbelief. It couldn’t be, she couldn’t be hearing this, and yet —

She barely saw the figure approaching before it was next to her, drawing her into an embrace that was as familiar as Vision’s arms, yet comforting in an entirely different way. Wanda felt her eyes finally filling with tears as she sank against the familiar chest. “P-Pietro?”

“Wanda.” It was him, it really was him, the voice and the warmth of her brother was here for the first time in years. “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here…”

Wanda still wasn’t sure what was real or not, but for the first time since half her soul had died, she felt complete.

*

The worst problem with being too afraid to sleep, Scott decided, was the inevitable crash once the threat was over.

He’d been in a haze ever since Paxton had dropped Maggie and Cassie at his doorstep and pleaded Scott to look after them, too busy himself trying to contain the chaos that was sure to follow if the attacks reached their area. Everyone else had slept at some point, even Paxton had dropped by to catch a few hours of fitful sleep surrounded by family before he was off again, but Scott hadn’t managed to get a moment’s rest. He’d been busy keeping Cassie distracted while she was awake, too torn by his fears when she slept. He’d given Paxton his word, not that it mattered, he would have protected his family with his life if need be, but it was painfully obvious there was nothing he could do against such threat.

The news were nothing but chaos, and it didn’t help that they tried to avoid such things around Cassie. It was bad enough to have her look at him with big eyes and ask if they were going to die, neither Scott nor Maggie was going to allow her to have any more reasons to be afraid.

Then suddenly they were told there was no threat anymore, that the heroes were triumphant and Thanos had been defeated, and while Scott had still been sick to his stomach because nobody knew who had made it and who hadn’t he hadn’t managed to hold on any longer. The last thing he remembered was slumping down on the couch, hugging Cassie to his chest, murmuring “thank God” over and over until he slipped off into dreamland.

Scott wasn’t sure how long he had been out, blinking groggily up at the ceiling. Clearly it had been a while since apparently it was morning now, and someone had nudged him into lying properly on the couch. There was a blanket draped over him, the soft pink one that belonged in Cassie’s room for when she was visiting, and Scott found himself clinging to it as he sought to calm his breathing.

Another deep breath caught the smell of what appeared to be breakfast. Well, clearly the world was not falling apart, then.

Scott still felt exhausted but managed to get to his feet anyway, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. Walking towards the kitchen, he heard the chatting voices from a ways away. Was that Luis? He couldn’t remember Luis being there before he crashed.

His little kitchen was full of people as Scott made it to the door, and apparently everyone was in one piece, too. That was indeed Luis making pancakes while talking a mile a minute as usual, Cassie chirping responses to whatever he was saying. Paxton was cradling a mostly empty coffee cup, Maggie’s hand on his arm as the two gazed at each other, both looking tired but relieved. Maybe he hadn’t been dreaming, then.

“Uh, morning.” Scott blinked blearily. “I see we’re all alive.”

“Yep!” Cassie grinned, bouncing up to her feet to come give him a hug. “They showed it on TV! The bad guys tried to do evil stuff with magic, but they fixed everything with good magic, and now it’s all going to be okay!”

“Is that so?” Scott hugged her back, glancing at the adults. “That sounds pretty amazing, peanut.”

“It is amazing.” Paxton sounded about as exhausted as Scott felt, but he was smiling, still. “Still a lot of a mess to clean up, but apparently the immediate invasion is over, now.”

“Oh, thank god.” Scott squeezed Cassie one last time, then eyed a free chair to slump into. Of course, just as he was about to do so, the doorbell rang.

Of course doorbells still worked after a near-apocalypse. It wasn’t like the world could have any mercy on his poor fuzzy head.

Scott looked anything but presentable as he shuffled over to the door. He hadn’t showered or changed in what felt like forever, and the pink blanket was still around him, but he didn’t particularly care. If someone wanted to bother him the morning after the world didn’t end, they could handle him looking a bit ragged.

He did reconsider this stance a bit as he opened the door and saw a familiar face on the other side, but frankly, it wasn’t like he would have actually made this guest wait.

“Sam?” He had to be dreaming, but his eyes definitely thought this was Sam, standing there at his doorstop rather then running off around the world. Scott was pretty sure that was a flight suit Sam was wearing, which probably wasn’t the best way to lie low, even ignoring the part where he was visiting someone under continuous FBI surveillance. Apparently none of this had occurred to Sam, who grinned at the sight of Scott.

“Man, you’ve really let yourself go.” The words were followed by a tight hug, though the embrace wasn’t the only reason Scott forgot to breathe for a moment. At last he managed to return the hug, a bit awkward as he tried to lean forward with his feet still inside the house.

“Should you be here?” The words sounded ridiculous even to his own ears, but as lovely as it was to see Sam at last, he couldn’t help but worry. “I mean, you’re not exactly in civilian clothes, and — is that a plane on the street?”

“The quinjet, to be precise. Not exactly well parked, but I’ll handle a ticket if need be.” Sam still hadn’t exactly let go, hands tight on Scott’s arms. “Turns out the powers that be can be persuaded to rethink their stance when you save the world. Funny, huh? Almost like the original accords got pushed through a bit hastily.”

“Wait. You mean — you’re not on the run anymore?” Scott blinked.

“I’ll do you one better.” Sam let go of him only to reach into his pocket, taking out a very official-looking document. “You’re free to go, too. Might take them a moment to come around to get the tracker, for some reason everyone’s pretty busy, but you’re officially not under house arrest anymore.”

“Okay. That’s a bit too much for me to handle at once.” Scott shook his head. “I need you to come inside so I can process this. Also, Luis makes good pancakes, you must be exhausted from the flight. …Did you actually fly here? Just to see me?”

“Nothing ‘just’ about it.” Sam’s voice was awfully soft, his arm settling around Scott’s shoulders as they turned to go inside. “But to answer your question, yeah. As soon as I was sure the fight was done and we had confirmation of the pardon, I found the nearest quinjet and took off.”

“Holy shit. You sure know how to make a guy feel special.” Scott got flustered, realizing what the words his sleep-addled brain had put together sounded like. “Ah — I mean —”

“I try.” Sam’s voice was still soft, and awfully warm. Well. They hadn’t actually managed to discuss everything in detail before Scott had agreed to the arrangement, but clearly they were thinking along the same lines.

“Well, you’re doing a good job.” Which did make Scott think of something as they approached the chatter from the kitchen. “Wait. What do you want to be introduced as?”

“What do you mean?” Except if Sam had actually been clueless he wouldn’t have been smiling like that, the bastard.

“You know.” Scott rolled his eyes. “We didn’t exactly have the time to talk through, well, us before everything went down. So. What do I say when they wonder why you’d be here?”

“Scott.” Sam leaned closer, his voice now barely more than a murmur. “I’m pretty sure there’s still alien gunk on me because seeing you was more urgent than a shower. You can call me whatever you want and I’ll agree to it.”

“Okay, with that comment? I’m going to call you gross. Also, that’s probably the most romantic thing I’ve heard in years.” Yup, definitely flustered by now.

“Really? Clearly I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” Except now Sam hang back as they got to the kitchen, all eyes turning to them.

“Uh. So.” Scott scratched the back of his head. “Apparently my secret long-distance boyfriend isn’t a wanted fugitive anymore?”

He didn’t really hear the initial reactions because Cassie’s delighted shriek drowned out everything else, but considering everyone was smiling, he figured things were going to be fine.

*

“Scott?” Maggie smiled, but he’d known her far too long to be fooled by that. “Could you come here for a bit?”

Scott glanced over at Sam, who was currently being interrogated by a very eager Cassie. He seemed quite preoccupied between her questions and the occasional comment from Luis, all accompanied by tasty pancakes, so Scott supposed it wouldn’t be too rude to step away for a moment. “Ah, sure. Though if I miss all the pancakes, I’m going to blame you.”

“Oh, please. We all know Luis is going to make more.” She tugged him out into the hallway, far enough that they were out of earshot of the others. “So… boyfriend?”

“That’s what I said, yes.” Scott shrugged, though he wasn’t as casual as he’d have liked. “I mean, are you really surprised that I’m bisexual?”

“Considering all the times we were commenting on the same hot actors back when we were having married movie nights? Not at all. But that’s not my point.” Maggie sighed, leaning against a wall. “Just… this seems a bit sudden. You’ve never even mentioned him to us.”

“He’s been on the run, and being in contact with him would have literally been a violation of the terms of my house arrest. Didn’t really feel like the best idea to be talking about my hopeless crush all the time.” Not that he hadn’t been in touch with Sam on occasion, but he’d been very aware of the risk.

“What about… Hope, right? I thought you were interested in her.”

“I was, briefly, before I actually met Sam. I’ve figured out since then that she’s not exactly the best for me.” Scott ran a hand over his face. “Remember that time a month or so ago, when there was a lot of trouble with the FBI?”

“I couldn’t really miss that.” Maggie shook her head. “I’m so relieved we don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Well, that was all because of Hope and her dad. Because she decided that drugging and kidnapping me based on a theory of hers was completely justified, never mind that getting caught outside would have put me in jail for twenty years. They stopped me from leaving or hiding, and when they didn’t, they acted like I was being utterly unreasonable and selfish for not wanting to risk losing my family and freedom.” Scott tried to grin, but it came out rather lopsided. “I’ve seen enough trouble in my life to know when a relationship would turn out abusive. So, even if I’d somehow managed to have held onto any semblance of romantic feelings for two years of no contact, those shreds would have been burned out by now.”

“That’s… that’s awful.” Maggie looked shocked, rightly so. “You deserve better. And I say this as your ex.”

“Oh, I agree. For all that I have a tendency to get in trouble, I do deserve someone who isn’t just using me to their own ends. And… I think Sam could be that.” This time his smile was genuine as he glanced in the direction of the conversation. Apparently Paxton and Luis had joined in on the interrogation, but Sam was handling it all quite well judging by the tone of his voice.

“He treats you well, then?” Maggie looked awfully suspicious. She was clearly picking up bad habits from Paxton.

“Very much so.” Okay, now his smile was probably getting pretty soppy. “After the mess in Germany, he was fully in support of my cutting a deal so I wouldn’t be forced on the run and away from you guys. Which might not sound like a big gesture, but it’s proof that he puts my happiness and needs above my help or having me with him. And yeah, I know it’s pretty pitiful to be impressed by that, but at least I know he’s not going to actively sabotage my life like Hope.”

“Well, I suppose that’s a start.” Maggie huffed. “Please tell me you’ve got actual reasons to like him, though, and not just reasons not to run the other way.”

“Right. One, have you actually seen him? Because, damn. Two, he’s sweet, brave, kind, and a literal superhero. I beat him up for Pym’s plans and he decided to treat that as a job interview. Honestly, I’m mostly confused about what he’d be seeing in a complete mess like me, but if he says I’m worthy of his attention, I’m going to trust that he’s not lying.”

“Hm.” Maggie narrowed her eyes, but then relaxed into a smile. “Well, you’re certainly interested, that’s clear. But he’d better not treat you badly.”

“Maggie, I appreciate the concern, I really you. I consider you and Jim family, and not just because of Cassie. Also, I realize I don’t exactly have a stellar history of making good decisions. Still, you could at least try to trust that I can choose someone to date without messing up too badly. I mean, I chose you, didn’t I?” He gave her a grin, one that she half-returned.

“Oh, yes, and that ended so well. But don’t worry, I’m not going to threaten him or anything.” She smiled brightly. “Instead, if he hurts you, I’m going to find out his number and give it to Cassie.”

“Ouch, vicious. And yet I can’t even argue.” Scott snorted. “Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter how I feel, if Cassie doesn’t like him, it’s not going to happen.”

“Luckily she likes seeing you happy.” Maggie patted his shoulder, then seemed to change her mind and pull him into a hug. “You do deserve good things, Scott. And if he’s good for you, you know we support you no matter what.”

“I do know that.” Scott hugged her back. “Now, did you have any more questions, or can we go back? I still haven’t actually had breakfast, and I’d actually like to ask Sam about the whole avoiding the end of the world deal.”

“I suppose I can allow that.” Maggie drew back, then grinned with some mischief. “Also, you’re probably going to want to shower and get some actual clothes on at some point, but I suppose that can wait until you’ve filled your stomach.”

“I’d try to look embarrassed or something, but after a couple of days of anticipating apocalypse, I think I’m allowed to be a bit unkempt. Also, Sam admitted there’s probably alien remains clinging to him, so I doubt he’s going to judge me for having a wrinkly shirt.”

“Good. Maybe the two of you can share a shower, too.”

Maggie’s laugh was really closer to a cackle as Scott fled back to the kitchen before she decided to offer any more helpful advice.


End file.
